Accusations against MasterChef -but where’s the beef?
Adam says MasterChef producers don't care enough about the contestants -but was it just a wake-up call for a first-time reality contestant?
- Published by David Knox
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Has Adam Bowen actually watched MasterChef seasons 1 and 2?
Today the man who quit the show after realising it wasn’t his true dream has hit out at producers in an interview with ninemsn.
According to the article he says they (and that would be FremantleMedia Australia)Â are playing with people’s emotions.
“I don’t think the producers care enough about the contestants,” Bowen told ninemsn.
“They’re there to make a high rating show.”
The article claims Bowen said producers were trying to break down contestants’ self-confidence.
“I found that difficult to see, the stress on people’s faces, I found that tough to see people question themselves when they’ve never questioned themselves in their lives,” he said.
“And that’s where the emotion comes from on MasterChef.
“It’s a process that I found difficult being involved in, TV.”
Bowen said contestants were not given enough opportunity to prepare for cooking challenges and it was “like being a marathon runner and only being trained to walk”.
Yet there are no other direct quotes in the article pertaining to duty of care or mismanagement. The sexy headline isn’t really supported by the interview.
Reality television is certainly a pressure-cooker environment, but we have had two years of the show on screen. It should not be news to anybody that the show carries stress, ‘marathon running’ and emotion. Certainly we would expect first-time entrants to be surprised at just how extreme television production is, but there are plenty of former contestants who have spoken about their experience.
Bowen, who quit the show last night, needs to back up his claims about producers not caring about contestants with instances that detail a lack of duty of care.
MasterChef may well be guilty of losing sight of the show’s vision in the race for ratings -it wouldn’t be the first to do so. The audience will let them know if they have.
Talk of people locked down in motels, confiscating phones and computers all seems misplaced for a mere cooking show that arrived with optimism when Reality TV was full of tearing people down.
FremantleMedia Australia, who are producing the series for the last time before it reverts to Shine Australia, may indeed be pulling out all stops in the fury to squeeze every last moment of drama. But if so, it’s not referenced alongside these accusations.
Bowen’s claim needs backing up, otherwise it just reeks of a person who had a Reality TV wake-up call.
Reality TV isn’t pretty. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
Oh wait, he did.
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14 Responses
My husband – an excellent chef – refuses to enter on the grounds that he knows he does not want to work in catering professionally. But a lot of people who love and are good at cooking think that they would like to work in the trade, and discover just how hard it is…. and if they are lucky, have something else they can do. A few years ago a contenstant in the MasterChef UK competition, which started with an ‘invention test’ then sent contestants to work a service in a professional kitchen, returned to annouce he was not participating in the next cook-off as having done one service he now knew that wasn’t for him.
Mmm so is this the real reason he jumped ship then?
People question themselves when they’ve never questioned themselves in their lives…is that not exactly what the show tries to achieve? Some people came out of there smelling like roses because the ended up growing so much. Others? Well maybe they found out it is not the place for them and that is not bad either.
Not given enough opportunity to prepare for cooking challenges… really?! gain, is that not 95% of what makes a chef tick?
It just seems that he found out that it is not for him, exactly what he wanted but now he sees it as a negative? I have not read the interview but I bet somewhere in there is a plug for hs business…
Adam seems like the kind of contestant who’d prefer quit on his own terms than lose face being kicked off. Sounds like sour grapes to me.
I think you would learn more about TV production (not reality; there’s very little real about “reality TV”) than cooking on Masterchef Inc.
@ryan…thats harsh. The guy wasn’t boring because he never got as much screen time as Ellie (who I detest), Sun, Billy, etc. He’s one of the contestants who stays under the radar, whether unintentionally or not,
@Kylie I completely agree! I love masterchef and I love cooking but If you are so passionate about entering the industry there a tafes right around the country that offer these courses.
Stress, high pressured enviroments and ‘marathon running’ are all part of working in a commcerial kitchen. Just ask anyone who works in 5 star resturant or catering company its not glamourous as some might think . One of the main purposes of Masterchef (besides being a rating bonanza for ch.10)is to show aspiring cooks what sort of pressure and expectations are forced onto professional chefs in the kitchen. If Adam can’t accept those pressures and expectations then maybe the industry isn’t for him and he has done both himself and the show a favour by leaving.
get lost adam! you were so dam boring anyway so im glad your gone!
Wow….Media is trying to stab Masterchef as much as they could get…
Maybe Adam got paid to say something.
I think when it comes to these shows people have to think long and hard before applying for it…
It’s not like their going to win the comp on a silver platter under a closh.
Ninemsn so paid Adam a lot of money to mudsling TEN’s powerhouse show.
Good read David…love the punch line…he he!
As you have stated, if he had watched previous years and read what some contestants have said then he should have been aware of what he was in for. Caring is not something reality tv shows offering a prize have ever been famous for since the first reality show doing this Survivor. (not the first realty show but the first to offer a prize). Though I find it interesting that it took him this long to work it out and maybe should have left earlier. Tonights episode with Hayden will show that the producers know who they want to win. Why give a reknowned pastry chef roast pork to cook which is not what he has refined his craft in. Sure a chef is a cchef and maybe if it was Adrian Zum…. then it might have been diffferent.
Good points David.
I don’t see how anyone could enter this show thinking that it would be easy and it shouldn’t. The prize is pretty spectacular with cooking alongside some of the best chefs, a book deal and $100,000. Are we getting to the point where people just expect something for nothing these days?
Of course all involved are there to make a high rating show, without ratings there would be no show and that would stop others from realizing their ‘masterchef’ dream. As for his claim that contestants aren’t given enough opportunity to prepare for cooking challenges, well sorry but some contestants seem to do just fine and put up some amazing food. If you can’t do the same then you shouldn’t be on the show in the first place.
If these people are so passionate about cooking and most of them want to change their lives – why haven’t they gone and got themselves chef apprenticeships instead of trying to fulfil a ‘lifelong dream’ on a Reality TV show which they have more chance of losing than winning??